VIU MBA Students Place Best in West at Canada's MBA Games

Students in Vancouver Island University’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program took fourth place in Canada’s MBA Games, held in Toronto Jan. 2-4, earning the best result for university MBA programs in western Canada.

VIU’s 32 MBA students competing alongside more than 700 students from 20 Canadian universities also took first place in the “Spirit” competition, with the best result in fundraising, video and opening performance. Of the total $69,269 raised by all teams for the designated charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Canada, VIU MBA students raised nearly half, $32,000.

“We are extremely proud, considering this was only our second time sending a full scale team to compete in the MBA Games,” said VIU MBA Games team captain Omar Karim. “It was an amazing and unforgettable experience.”

Key to their overall success, Karim said, was making it into the finals for the Strategy Case Competition, an extremely challenging exercise involving creation of a 20-page report and professional presentations delivered to solve a real-time business challenge for the City of Brampton, all to a tight timeline.

“The team was just awesome, with the students who attended and the rest of our MBA students working hard all year long to fundraise,” said Brock Dykeman, MBA Program Director.


“The team leaders developed a strategy to place at the nationals and executed the strategy well by building and maintaining the enthusiasm of the team and all of the MBA students to support their goal.”

Karim also credited the support of two coaches from the MBA program, along with four staff who travelled to Toronto with the team.

“Our team definitely showcased the high quality of students and education received at VIU,” Karim said.

McMaster University’s Degroote School of Business won first place in the MBA Games, followed by MBA teams from Ryerson University, the Schulich School of Business at York University, and Université Laval in second, third and fifth place respectively.

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Media Contact: 

Shari Bishop Bowes, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University

P: 250.740.6443 C: 250.618.1535 E: Communications@viu.ca